Business Strategies Checklist for the 2023 Holiday Season

The holiday season between November and December is pivotal for many businesses.

After all, the holidays can account for up to 40% of annual revenue for some businesses.

Case in point: American consumers spent $936.3 billion during 2022’s holiday season, which was a growth of 5.3% over 2021.

Salesforce predicts that globally, online sales alone will reach $1.19 trillion during the holiday season 2023.

So in fact, your business may live or die based on your holiday success. At the very least, the holidays present a powerful business opportunity.

Thus, it’s vital that you nail down a solid business strategy. Let’s walk through a few strategies you can implement to help make your business as successful as possible this holiday season.

5 Business Strategies to Employ for the 2023 Holidays

1. Identify Emerging Consumer Trends

To kickstart effective holiday strategies, you’ll have to understand your industry’s consumer landscape. This involves analyzing trends in what types of products or services your target audience is interested in and any changes in that audience’s purchasing behavior (for example, are they accessing your site from mobile or from desktop?), and other emerging trends that will shape purchasing behavior during the 2023 holiday season.

To help identify patterns, you can (1) do research online, (2) ask your customers directly about their preferences and behaviors, and (3) use AI tools to help you analyze your data.

2. Get the Most Reach with Omnichannel Marketing

In 2023, businesses can't rely on a single platform for holiday marketing. You’ll want to engage in as many marketing channels as is feasible—including some underutilized channels such as SMS and the new social platform Threads. But keep in mind that you can’t do every marketing channel, so zero in on the ones that your target audience is most likely to be responsive to. (So if your target audience is 70-year-olds, forget Threads and TikTok.)

3. Make Full Use of SMS

We mentioned this above but it bears showcasing as its own point—SMS is an underused and highly effective marketing channel. It’s much more certain that people will actually see and engage with your messages when they’re sent via text message. So you want to make sure you’re taking full advantage of that potential when it comes to your holiday marketing in 2023.

4. Partner with Influencers

We live in the age of social media. So one of the best ways to maximize your social media reach is to partner with influencers who are prominent in your niche. These influencers already have an audience and, if you choose your influencer correctly, this audience would likely be a good target audience that would find your product or service appealing. Plus, the influencer creates and shares the content on your behalf, so most of your work is done for you.

5. Capitalize on the Holiday Feels

The holiday season is filled with so much nostalgia for a lot of people. Don’t waste the opportunity to incorporate the emotion of the holiday season as a way to connect with your target audience. People want to deal with people, not brands, and incorporating that kind of emotion can go a long way toward helping engage with your business.

Don’t Pass Up the Opportunities of the Season

There’s so much potential for businesses to take advantage of the 2023 holiday season—but success requires a strategic approach. Employing these 5 strategies will help you maximize the potential of the season to the fullest, so that you can see the most success for your business.

Want to take a first small step? Get a free SMS platform account today so that you can get started with improving your SMS game just in time for the holidays.